During this winter season when I am confronted with an unhappy student who can't easily or is unwilling to follow directions, I find it helpful to pause and remember some important principles of behavior management. Here are some thoughts to remember when children are unable or unwilling to regulate their behaviors and emotions: You can't control another person's behavior, only your own response.
No matter what it seems, students do not want to be in control of the … [Read more...]

The following blog post is contributed by Dr. Anthony Rao a nationally known expert in child psychology, and author of The Way of Boys. Dr. Rao will be a speaker at the INSPIRE 2014 Conference in October 2014.Getting noticed or standing out is usually a good thing, but not for American boys in school. Their diagnoses for ADHD continue to be too high. What drives this? In my practice, it seems to be coming from teachers. They don't realize it, but over the last few years they have been … [Read more...]

This post focuses on the impact of good nutrition on behavior and learning. After spending only an hour researching the topic I found hundreds of studies and articles focused on the positive connections between well-fed students and their abilities to focus, self regulate and succeed in school. Given the volumes of evidence, it is astounding to me that most students are still given foods that are high in simple carbohydrates and filled with chemicals.Well, maybe not astounding. It makes sense. … [Read more...]

On April 13, following the premiere of the movie Bully, NISCE did a feature on What Can We Really Do to Fight Bullying, and provided a toolbox of resources from The Bully Project for readers from a variety of backgrounds to use. Included in the resources was a Toolkit for Parents, Toolkit for Students, Toolkit for Educators, and a Toolkit for Advocates.However, the conversation did not and should not stop there.On Wednesday, April 25th educators, parents, and concerned community members … [Read more...]

Eighth-grader Jonah Mowry posted this extraordinary personal video on bullying and suicide, What’s Goin’ On, on YouTube last December. His video has been viewed over a ten million times and has generated more than 350,000 comments
Jonah's video can help schools, families and parent-teacher organization begin a conversation on on issues of bullying and acceptance, and his courage and honesty can be an inspiration to us all. … [Read more...]

With over 13 million kids bullied this year, making it the most common form of violence that young people experience, educators, parents, students and advocates need to be given resources and voices to address the epidemic.On Wednesday, April 25th at Dearborn Academy in Arlington, MA the National Institute for Student-Centered Education (NISCE) will be hosting a roundtable discussion with parents, educators, and students on Fostering Empathy and Action.Participants will discuss the hard qu … [Read more...]

The film "Bully" premiered on March 30th in New York and Los Angeles, but on April 13th NISCE will host the inaugural Boston-area screening of the film at the Landmark Kendall Cinema in Cambridge. Immediately following the show, Dr. Richard Weissbourd, Harvard lecturer, will provide commentary and lead a short discussion with the audience.The documentary, which follows five students who are bullied over the course of one year, seeks to expose the tragic effects of bullying. By giving intimate … [Read more...]

Research shows that Americans are reading less and that those who are reading are reading less well. This is according to a study by the National Endowment for the Arts which notes that, "Less than one-third of 13-year olds are daily readers, a 14 % decline from 20 years early," and that "Reading scores for 12th-graders fell significantly from 1992 to 2005, with the sharpest declines in the amount for lower-level readers." How is it that parents, educators, and individuals who are concerned ab … [Read more...]

CBS' 60 Minutes recently reported on the idea some parents are implementing of holding a child back one year or "Redshirting" kindergarten students. The approach is driven by desire to have that particular student be among the oldest, rather than the youngest, in their class when they started school. The hope is that by doing so the child would be further along developmentally, be more of a leader over time, do better in sports, and have an overall advantage over the other children in his/her cl … [Read more...]

“The kid in the back wants me todefine ‘logic.’ The girl next to him looks bewildered. The boy in front of medutifully takes notes even though he has severe auditory processing issues anddoesn't understand a word I'm saying. Eight kids forgot their essays, but onehas a good excuse because she had another epileptic seizure last night. Theshy, quiet girl next to me hasn't done homework for weeks, ever since she wasjumped by a knife-wielding gangbanger as she walked to school. The boy next toher is … [Read more...]

Stay Up To Date!

Follow us

Upcoming Events

White Papers

NISCE publishes a series of white papers on the challenges and benefits of student-centered education. Download free pdfs of our latest white papers here. Interested in working with us on a white paper? Email twilson@nisce.org. Thanks.